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LORD OF THE RINGS star SEAN BEAN pulled the plug on his US TV series FACELESS because he feared he couldn't play a hardcore criminal without swearing and turning violent.

The expensive pilot was a hit but the Brit felt he'd be cheating fans if the drama series was watered down to escape fines handed down by America's TV watchdogs. Bean says, "There were too many restrictions; the fact that I was playing a guy who lived on the streets, a criminal who wanted retribution for the suffering and pain he'd been caused - but there were certain things the network (Fox) wouldn't allow.

"I couldn't swear, I couldn't smoke a cigarette, I couldn't drink and the girls had to be more or less fully dressed. "I was saying, 'Wait a minute, what sort of guy am I playing here? You can't play that kind of guy without swearing occasionally or being violent.'

"There are some things that have to be seen and you can't be politically correct about everything and you can't treat an audience as though they're children."